Man loses suit against Chelmsford

CHELMSFORD -- A Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of the town in a public-records lawsuit, dealing Chelmsford businessman Roland Van Liew another court loss against public officials.

Van Liew submitted a public-records request last December seeking copies of no-bid and emergency-procurement contracts signed by the town, and then requested copies of contracts with firms off a state bidders list, which includes companies with which the state already has agreements. Town Manager Paul Cohen, one of the defendants in the suit, told Van Liew in a letter that the town had no such contracts.

Van Liew then sent a third public-records request that sought all written contracts entered into by the town "which did not go out to bid prior to awarding" a contract and all contracts that were "not competitively bid" before they were awarded.

The town said one such contract, which the town signed with Trinity EMS for emergency ambulance service, met Van Liew's criteria. Van Liew filed a lawsuit days later, against Cohen and the Board of Selectmen, claiming the town was violating Massachusetts public-records laws.

When the suit was filed, Van Liew had taken out nomination papers for what became an unsuccessful run for a seat on the Board of Selectmen.

Superior Court Justice Maynard M. Kirpalani sided with the town, saying Van Liew was given the only document that matched his request. Van Liew's argument that the town is untrustworthy in providing documents is "unavailing," Kirpalani said.

"The plaintiff has failed to establish that an actual controversy exists, and as such, the court must dismiss his claims," Kirpalani said.

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In an interview Tuesday, Van Liew expressed frustration at the ruling, saying all a public official has to do to avoid turning over documents is to say they don't exist.

"Chelmsford officials have embarrassed themselves so often with public snafus with no-bid contracts," he said. "There's no point appealing this decision in regard to Chelmsford."

"I'm flabbergasted," he added, "that these guys are so eager to trumpet that they have no accounting in place."

Cohen said he was pleased at the outcome.

"Looking at the decision, there didn't seem to be any merit to the case," he said, mentioning how no other lawsuits have been filed against the town for public-records requests.

"Unfortunately, it cost the town a lot of money," he said of the legal defense. "It just seemed like no matter how we responded, it wasn't sufficient."

The ruling deals another loss to Van Liew, who last month lost a Superior Court lawsuit against the town in which he argued the town failed to enforce a preservation restriction for the controversial 9 North Road office-building project. A minor victory for Van Liew in that case was that Judge Joseph M. Walker III denied the town's motion for Van Liew to pay its legal fees.

In July, a Lowell District Court judge dismissed Van Liew's lawsuit against Planning Board Chairwoman Colleen Stansfield. Van Liew alleged malicious prosecution when she sought, and was temporarily granted, a harassment-prevention order against him.

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